ToolWatch News Release

An American company is offering a digital solution to managing tools and service scheduling that it claims can save up to 80% on project equipment costs.

Handheld device accesses tool database

The technology allows site managers instant access, via a mobile handheld device, to information about the location and servicing/ calibration needs of all tools and equipment.

The system uses a centralised database to securely store critical information on all warehouse and field operation assets.

ToolWatch reports that organisations using its tracking system report within weeks of using the application that tool retention increases to at least 90%. With profit margins on projects becoming tighter, tool-intensive organisations are finding that they can save between 50-80% on tool and equipment costs within a period of months, according to ToolWatch.

Another main benefit of the system is that stock levels of all materials and tools can be monitored in real-time, so that critical shortages are flagged up automatically before work time is lost.

The company currently manages 15 million tools and 103 million materials worldwide, servicing 113,000 jobsites and 104,000 workers.

The Hochtief/ Murphy JV is the latest user of the innovative system to electronically track equipment on its US$306 million contract to construct Crossrail's Thames Tunnel.

It selected ToolWatch to deliver a digital solution to managing and tracking the heavy equipment, vehicles and tools that will be needed to complete the 2.6km tunnel under the Thames in London.

Martin Edwards, Plant and Senior Office Manager of the C-310 Thames Tunnel project for Hochtief/Murphy, said: "The scope of the Thames Tunnel contract demands that we have the capability to keep strict control over every item, from small to large, accurately and instantaneously. ToolWatch Enterprise will give us the macro- and micro-level knowledge we need to keep the project on track and on budget."

Don Kafka, ToolWatch President, said: "This is the single largest project ToolWatch has undertaken in the UK to date, and we hope it has opened the doors to other joint venture partnerships with Hochtief/Murphy and future projects in the UK."

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